PUBLICATION of an eagerly awaited report into the management of the Wales' exam board has been postponed to probe "contradictions" in responses provided by Deputy First Minister Mike German.

Welsh Joint Education Committee chairman Jeff Jones said the answers given by Mr German contained "serious contradictions" and did not tally with information held by the organisation.

Mr German, who insists he has answered all 130 questions fully, has promised to continue to co-operate with the investigation to clarify the situation.

The investigation, by auditors Bentley Jennison, was due to be published at 4pm yesterday. But at lunchtime the WJEC put out a statement saying the 300-plus page report would not be ready in time.

"As a result of the responses of Mike German and other, there are a number of issues requiring clarification," said Wyn Roberts, WJEC chief executive.

Mr German is the former head of the WJEC's European Unit which is at the centre of the investigation in to how it ran up huge losses.

He had an uncomfortable 56th birthday yesterday, dogged by questions about the investigation. Mr German was pleased that publication had been delayed.

He said: "I asked for a copy in advance of publication, but was refused. I'm grateful that wish now seems to have been afforded, and we will have the opportunity to check through and see what further corrections need to be made."

The shadow cast over the Lib Dem leader in the Assembly by the auditor's report also affected his work in Cardiff Bay. Mr German's election to the Assembly's European affairs committee was the subject of a contentious vote which featured an unprecedented 20 abstentions. Normally, such elections are nodded through.

Conservative education spokesman Jonathan Morgan said: "I feel it would be inappropriate in light of the publication of the report for us to determine the suitability of Mr German for the membership of this committee."

Plaid Cymru AMs joined the Conservatives contesting the election, calling for it to be postponed until the report was published. However, Labour AMs and Mr German's Lib Dem colleagues outvoted the opposition parties.

Kirsty Williams said it made sense to do it now, while they were in the process of re-jigging committee appointments following the arrival of new AM Eleanor Burnham.